Otaki Scholar Explains Role Of Kilt

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31120, 25 July 1966, Page 16

Otaki Scholar Explains Role Of Kilt

Since the twenty-third Otaki Scholar, David Pittendreigh, arrived in New Zealand last month, he has been asked many times why all Scots do not wear kilts. He has a ready answer: “Why do not Maoris wear grass skirts everywhere?” David said in Christchurch yesterday that this answer usually made questioners understand that kilts were formal ambassadorial and ceremonial dress only. David, who arrived from Napier yesterday, will be the guest of J. Hudson, a prefect at St. Andrew’s College, until Tuesday. The Otaki Scholarship was the highest honour the Rob ert Gordon College, Aberdeen, could give, he said. It was awarded annually to one of the senior students at the school. David said his comprehensive tour of New Zealand, and the accompanying V.I.P. hospitality, was something he would remember for the rest of his life. New Zealand, he was told before leaving Scotland, would be similar to his country. "But it is not,” he said. The only parts of New Zealand which reminded him of Scotland were in the North Island. “New Zealand has larger plains and more rug-

ged mountains than Scotland,” he said. Among his hobbies is fishing and while in the North Island, he managed to hook and land a 2)lb trout at Lake Taupo. However, fishing is out of season in the South Island and he is disappointed that he will not be able to try his luck here.

Tomorrow, David will visit the College Mountain Lodge and on Monday, there will be a reception in his honour at St. Andrew’s College. Afterwards he will call on the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr G. Manning) and the New Zealand Shipping Company. In the afternoon, he will be taken on a tour of the city and on Tuesday morning will leave for Mount Cook. David will return to Scotland early in September and will begin studying at the University of Aberdeen for an arts degree. He intends to become a teacher.

Guest At White House.— The Prime Minister of Guyana, Mr Forbes Burnham, arrived in Washington yesterday for a three-day visit The leader of the newly - independent South American nation, he was guest at a White House luncheon.—Washington, July 22.